Morning in our Bibles to Matthew
chapter 18. Let's begin our reading in verse 21,
read to the end of the chapter, Matthew chapter 18. Then came Peter to him, and said,
Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive
them? Till seven times Jesus saith
unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until
seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven
likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his
servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto
him which owed him 10,000 talents. But for as much as he had not
to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and
children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant
therefore fell down and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all. of that servant was moved with
compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the
same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, which
owed him a hundred pence. And he laid hands on him and
took him by the throat saying, pay me that thou owest. And his
fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him saying,
have patience with me and I will pay thee all. And he would not,
but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.
So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very
sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done.
Then his Lord, after that he had called him, said unto him,
O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou
desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have
had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on
thee? And his Lord was wroth, and delivered
him to the tormentors, that he should pay all that was due unto
him. So likewise shall my heavenly
Father Do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not
everyone his brother their trespasses. The first authorized Bible printed
in England, in English, was printed in England in the year 1537,
almost 500 years ago. And that Bible translation was
a work basically of two men, William Tyndall and John Rogers. William Tyndall, he had fled
England to finish his work of translation to the continent
and he was sought out and killed there. John Rogers, he remained
in England and he was the first of the English martyrs to be
burned at the stake when Mary came to the throne. The first
authorized Bible in English, not quite 500 years ago. But in this Bible, in the front
of it, the preface of this Bible, these words were printed. Miles
Coverdale, he was the man who was responsible for the publishing
of this book. But he wrote this, and I've changed
it from Old English into more modern English. It shall greatly
help you to understand Scripture. If you mark not only what is
spoken or written, but of whom and to whom, with what words,
at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances,
considering what goes before and what follows. You'll never
find a better rule, you'll never find a better rule for interpreting
scripture than was printed in the front of that Bible. As we
look at this passage this morning, it certainly is good advice to
us as we look at these words to mark to mark certain things. And there are three things that
I want us to mark. First, mark, now mark this, that
the lesson from these verses is men forgiving others. Forgiving a brother who sins
against us. Now that should be recognized
as the subject of these verses and the parable which follows. Peter's question is, Lord, how
oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Now Peter,
I suppose he was like a lot of people, he asked this question
so he could answer it. Lord, how oft shall my brother
sin against me and I forgive him? He didn't wait. Didn't wait
for the Lord Jesus Christ to answer, but he interjects what
he was convinced was a very good answer. In fact, he probably
felt that he had gone the second mile if he would just practice
what he said man should do. How oft shall my brother sin
against me and I forgive him until seven times, until seven
times, if he does that seven times and I forgive him, I will
have really done something great. I will really have done something
to be proud of. Well, this illustrates again
to us this truth that we find all through the Word of God.
When God said, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Peter's thoughts His
ways were so much lower than the Lord's thoughts and the Lord's
words. And His answer, our Lord's answer,
was not seven, but seventy times seven. In other words, we have
a definite number for an indefinite times that we should forgive
a brother who sins against us. Now, I realize that the word
brother It may include all men because we're all brothers and
sisters. We're all members of the same
human family. There's only one family and God
is the creator of each and every one of us. So in one sense of
the word, we're all brothers. We're all sisters. We're all
members of the human family. How often, how often, Lord, shall
my brother sin against me and I forgive him. But I want to
say this. that we are brothers in Christ
in a special way. In fact, in Galatians chapter
6 in verse 10, Paul said, as we have opportunity, as God gives
you opportunity, as you live in this world day by day, let
us do good to all men, to every person. We're all brothers and
sisters in that sense. As God As we have opportunity,
let us do good to all men, especially unto them who are of the household
of faith. So we know that this especially
has reference to those who are brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, in 1 John, one of the
signs that John gives us, whereby we may know that we have been
born of the Spirit of God, that we've been born from above, that
we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, is that we love the brethren. He said, and we know that we
have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. So how often, Lord, how often? shall my brother, my Christian
brother, or even my human family brother, sin against me, and
I forgive him. Until seven times? Our Lord said,
no, Peter, until 70 times seven. As often as he sins against you
and asks for forgiveness, grant forgiveness. So mark that, mark
that. The subject, the lesson in these
verses is men forgiving men, brothers forgiving brothers.
Now the second thing I want us to mark is this, that the lesson
from these verses is not, I said mark first the lesson is, the
lesson is Man forgiving man, brothers forgiving brothers,
but mark secondly that the lesson is not God forgiving sinners. That's not the lesson in this
parable at all. Peter's question is not, how
does God forgive sins? That's not the question. The
Lord Jesus is giving the parable. He's not illustrating how God
forgives sinners. The only likeness, when you look
at the parable and how that God forgives sinners, the only likeness
that we can really see is that in the parable the man owed a
debt that he could not pay. And the same thing is true about
everyone that God forgives their sin. We all owe a debt that we
cannot pay. how foolish it is for people
to think, ìWell, Iím going to change my life. Iím going to
turn over a new leaf, and Iím going to start doing right from
here forth.î Well, what about all that behind? What about that
in the past? Even if it were possible for
you to begin today and treat and love your brother as yourself,
your neighbor as yourself, and love God with all your heart,
all your soul, and with all your being. What if that were possible
for you to do? From henceforth, what about the
past? If you would stop and compute
the number of sins which we have committed since we come into
this world. I've seen, I believe it was Augustus
Toplady. in his works, one of his sermons. He tries to do that. But if you
just took, and this would be a very low, very low number,
but if you just took five sins a day, multiply that by a year,
and that year by a decade, and some of us by five or six, seven,
eight decades, can you imagine Can you imagine the number of
sins that we've committed, that we're guilty of? He is not explaining here or
illustrating in this parable how that God forgives sin. There are three things. The only
thing, as I said, the only thing I see that is comparable is that
the man in our Lord's parable owed a debt he couldn't pay.
And you owe a debt you can't pay. I owe a debt I can't pay. Now that's just so. That's the only likeness I see.
But I want you to notice three things the Lord Jesus tells about
this king. In his parable, he pictures a
man who is a king forgiving his servant. These three things are
not true, are not true of God forgiving sinners. Number one,
he forgave the debt. This man, this king, he forgave
the debt based only, only on his compassion for him. Notice
that in verses 23 through 27. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven
likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which
owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to
pay, his lord commanded him to be sold. and his wife and children,
and all that he had in payment to be made. The servant therefore
fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with
me, and I will pay thee all. Then, now notice this is the
only reason, the only reason this king forgave this man. Then the Lord of that servant
was moved with compassion, with pity. He saw something, he heard
something, and this man that moved him out of pity, out of
compassion to forgive him. Now a man such as this king could
do that. You can do that. I can do that. Out of our compassion for someone
who offends us, we can do that. And the reason that we can do
that is because we are sinners. because we are just like the
man who sinned against us. We can do that. We can forgive
someone out of compassion. The debt wasn't paid. He owed
10,000 talents. The debt wasn't paid. And I know
he asked for patience, but if the king had been patient with
him for a year, for 10 years, for 100 years, he never could
have paid this debt. And the same thing is true of
you and I. Now this king, he forgave the
man for one reason and for one reason only, and that was because
of compassion. The debt wasn't paid. Justice,
justice wasn't satisfied. In Isaiah 59 and verse 14, we
have a verse that describes an act like this in civil matters. The scripture says judgment is
turned away backward. That's what happened. Judgment. There's no judgment here. There's
no justice here. There's just compassion. There's
just mercy. Judgment is turned away backward
and justice standeth afar off for the truth is fallen in the
street and equity cannot enter. Justice, in this case, stood
afar off and truth had fallen into the street. Now let me ask
you this. Is this the way God forgives
sinners? Is this the way God forgives
sinners? Is it only out of compassion? Is it only out of mercy that
God forgives sinners? Does justice stand afar off and
truth, is it trampled in the street? Now it is true that God
who forgives sinners is rich in mercy. And He is rich in mercy
and He manifests and He shows mercy when He forgives sinners
their debt. But never, never at the expense
of His justice. Never. The only reason that this
man forgave this man who owed him this great debt was out of
compassion. Now God shows compassion. We
know that parable we love to think about in Luke chapter 18
where that Pharisee and the publican went into the temple to pray.
You know the Pharisee, the religious fellow, he was so proud of himself
and what he had done, how much he'd given, how he'd fasted,
how he'd done, he had all kinds of religious things to brag on.
But there was another man there, and he smote upon his breast,
and he said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And our Lord
said, that man, that man that asked for mercy, he went home
justified, rather than the other man. He went home justified. He asked for mercy, and God showed
mercy, but not at the expense of his justice. If you look that
word up in the Greek text there, God be propitious. In other words,
he recognized the only way God could show him mercy would be
through a sacrifice. God be propitious to me, the
sinner. And that propitiation, remember
in 1 John we read, For herein is the love of God, not that
we loved him, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins. God's justice had to be satisfied,
has to be satisfied. It's not a matter of just forgiving
out of mercy. Mercy, the scripture says, justice
and judgment are the habitation of thy throne, God's throne. In other words, God himself,
There's justice, that's righteousness, justice, that's the habitation
of His throne. God is holy and He must be holy. Three times over, remember in
Isaiah's vision that he saw there in heaven's throne room, holy,
holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. This is something that I think
is missing in our day, don't you? To preach and speak about
the holiness of God. We all just feel like we've got
the right. We're just so important. We're
just so good. We've just got the right to demand
of God that He bless us, that He save us, that He forgive us. God's holy. God's justice must
be satisfied. For Him to show mercy? For Him
not to satisfy His justice? Then He would cease to be God. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of Thy throne. Mercy and truth go before Thee. Mercy and truth. In other words,
faithfulness. Mercy and faithfulness go before
Thee. Mercy and truth are met together. They're met together. How is
it that God may be just and yet merciful? How's that possible? I need mercy. God is just. He always will be just. How's
justice and mercy going to meet together and be dispensed to
me? There's only one way. And that's
through His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no other way. God said this in Isaiah, there
is no God else beside me. Now listen, a just God and. I'm so thankful for that and,
aren't you? A just God and a Savior. a Savior. Remember that verse
in 1 John chapter 1 in verse 9 where the Apostle said, If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just. Faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God forgives sinners for Christ's
sake. I want you to see that in 1st
John. I know you're familiar with this, but look over here
in 1st John chapter 2. 1st John chapter 2. God forgives sinners for Christ's
sake. He is just to forgive them because
Christ paid the debt and satisfied God's justice. He would be unjust. This is the reason that, this
is not the only reason, but this is one reason that I am so convinced
of the truth that Christ died for His sheep and for His sheep
alone. He would be unjust, God would
be unjust if He didn't forgive everyone for whom Christ died. If Christ died in my stead, in
my place, then God would be unjust if He did not forgive me my sins. And the same is true of each
and every one for whom Christ died. First John chapter 2 and
verse 12, the apostle said, I write unto you, little children, Because
your sins are forgiven you for Christ's sake. Notice the next
verse. I write unto you fathers, because
you have known him, that is, from the beginning. I write unto
you young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write
unto you little children, because you have known the father. Now,
you've got three characteristics there. The father, young men,
and children in that second verse. We know in God's family there's
growth, there's maturity, isn't there? We're born into the family
of God and we come in as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk
of the Word. We grow, we mature in faith. Some become young men, some become
old men, but this is true of each one in the family. Your sins are forgiven you for
Christ's sake. Now that's just the truth. I
write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven
you for His name's sake. Because He died because He paid
the debt. Your sins are forgiven you. Now here's the second thing in
this parable about this man. First of all, You see that, don't
you? Isn't that clear? He forgave
the debt based only on His compassion. Justice doesn't enter into the
picture at all. It's strictly His mercy. Second, and that's not the way
God forgives sinners. Second, He forgave the debt but
took it back. He forgave the debt, but took
it back based on what? On the servant's conduct. Notice
that in verse 28. But the same servant went out
and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence.
And he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying,
Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down
at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and
cast him into prison until he should pay the debt. So when the fellow servants saw
what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto
their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after he had called
him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that
debt, because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have
had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on
thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered
him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto
him. He forgave the debt, but he took
back his forgiveness, and he did so based upon the conduct
of this servant. Now what a contrast do we see
here between God and this king, between God forgiving sinners
and this king forgiving one of his servants. Here are two things
that stand out to me as I look at the contrast. First of all,
the knowledge. The knowledge contrasted between
God and this king could not be greater. If this man, if this
king, this man in the parable had known If he had known how
his servant was going to act, he never would have forgiven
him. He didn't know. He learned something. He expected, no doubt, that his
servant would be merciful to fellow servants. But he wasn't. He wasn't at all. The knowledge could not be greater
between God who forgives sinners. He knows everything about us. He knows you better than you
know yourself. Imagine so. He knows me better
than I know myself. You read Psalm 139. My down setting,
my uprising, thou knowest it altogether. There cannot be a
word upon my tongue, but thou knowest it. God knows everything
about us. He knew everything about us from
all eternity. He never learns anything about
you. He never learns anything about those that He forgives.
God knows all about those that He forgives. And the second thing
is we contrast between the purpose of the two. The purpose of this
king forgiving and God forgiving couldn't be greater. The king
purposed to forgive this debt, and he did. He did for a while,
and then he changed. But listen, God's purpose, and
God's purpose is one. I know there's many facets, many
parts of His purpose, but God's purpose is one. It's one. God's purpose to be gracious
and saving sinners is eternal. And it'll never change. Because
He doesn't change. Because He's eternal. This man
could do this because he was a man just like you and I. And
we are mutable. We change a hundred times a day. God never has changed and never
will change. I am the Lord, he said, and I
change not. God's purpose from old eternity,
it never has changed and it never will change. God's purpose to
be gracious and saving sinners is eternal and it will never
change. He purposed their salvation when
He chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Now they fell in their covenant head, but God's purpose didn't
change. God's purpose never changed. He purposed their forgiveness
when He laid their sins upon Christ. You read Isaiah 53, and
it speaks of the fact that He was stricken, God said, for My
people. He was stricken for my people. He died in the place and in the
stead of God's people, those whom God purposed to save from
before the foundation of the world. And that purpose will
never change. He purposed their forgiveness
when He sent the gospel to them, when He sent the gospel to you.
You may not have a definite time in your mind. That's not necessary. It's more important this morning
that I'm looking to Christ today than I can go back 10 years or
5 years or 20 years or 25, whatever. When you do that, you're looking
to an experience. An experience doesn't save. No one's saved by an experience. Christ is the Savior. It's not
my experience that died for me. It's not my experience that cleanses
me from my sin. It's Christ and His blood. But when God sent the gospel
to you, you may have sat in a service for years and the gospel maybe
was preached, maybe it wasn't, but maybe it just went over your
head, just like water off a duck's back. But then one day, you heard. You heard. God has not changed his purpose. When he sent the gospel to you,
in word, yes, but also in power and in demonstration of the Holy
Spirit and in your heart and your soul, you said, that's the
gospel. That's the truth. I can live on that. I can die
on that. That's the gospel. His purpose
has never changed, and it never will change, and nothing, nothing
will separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. That's what Paul said, isn't
it, in Romans chapter 8? Nothing. This man, he forgave
him for a while, but he took it back. God doesn't forgive that way.
God forgives sinners on purpose. We're not saved by chance. That's the way most people believe,
just by chance, per chance. It may have seemed like chance
to you that you were brought into a service where you heard
the gospel, but take my word for it, in the Word of God, there
was no chance involved. It was God's purpose. God's predestination. And here's the third thing. He
forgave the debt, but He did not change the man's nature.
You notice in verse 32, when He spoke to him the second time,
He said, O thou wicked servant... He was a wicked servant before
He was forgiven, and He was still a wicked servant, because man
can forgive another man, but man doesn't have the power to
change that man's heart. Now he expected, I believe this
king no doubt expected, that as he had forgiven him, surely,
surely when he encounters one of his fellow servants, who owes
just a pittance in comparison to what he owed me, and I forgave
him all that debt, When he runs into someone and they ask for
mercy, he's going to show mercy. He thought that, but he thought
wrong. Why? Because the man still had
a wicked nature, a fallen nature. When God forgives sinners in
regeneration, giving us a new heart, in conversion, granting
unto us repentance, we have a new nature now. It's called the Spirit. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit. We still have the flesh, but
we have a spiritual nature. Let me close with this. Mark
that the lesson... Mark, this is the third thing
to mark. Mark that the lesson from these verses is that those
that God forgives should be ready Did you know there's a verse
in the Bible that tells us that God is ready
to pardon? He's ready. He's, if I could
use this phrase and not be blasphemous in it, He's setting
on ready. God is. He's setting on ready. To forgive every sinner that
comes to Him and cries out for mercy. And we should be the same. When
someone sins against us, after God has forgiven us our great
sin debt, it should be easy. It should be easy. Now I've known
some people who have had some problems People did them wrong,
and I mean did them bad wrong. And yet I saw those people forgive
them. And that's the way it ought to
be. And I remember a person telling me, I'm not going to forgive
that person. I'll be with them in heaven and
that'll be okay, but I'm not going to forgive them. Now that's
not the nature, that's not the conduct of God's children who
are forgiven. Our conduct is to turn the other
cheek, to go the extra mile, to forgive. I pray that the Lord would bless
these thoughts and words to all of us here today.